“Social Networking” thing these past few months, and I just wanted to share this blog by Donna Newton.

The balance has shifted. Nowadays, the majority of published authors find they are responsible for most, or all, of their own promotion. Donna offers sound advice to prepare writers for that eventuality, and some great books that will guide them along the way.

Just finished one of the best books I’ve ever read on story structure. Some complained that the author repeated himself a lot, and I can see their point on that, but it wasn’t really an issue for me. I guess I was busy trying to absorb everything as best I could, while picking apart my own works-in-progress in my mind. I have finished this with a lot of new ideas to put into play, and some excitement that the knowledge imparted here will get me closer o where I want to be. My Goodreads review:

Feb 13, 2012

Story Engineering- Mastering the 6 Core Competencies of Succesful Writing

I have only found a couple books on writing over the years that gave me more than just a few gems of useful info, but I have to say that this book was pure gold!!! If you are writing fiction, it is a must-have. I learned so much about story structure, character building, scene creation, theme… the list goes on and on.

Those who do little or no pre-planning before starting a story will be terrified of the ideas here, but I already used simple outlining to put my stories together. This just takes it so much deeper. We aren’t talking formula, but he clearly explains what nearly all good stories have in common, and how you can put those structural examples to work in your own writing. I take my goal of achieving publication very seriously, and I truly believe this is a tool that will help.

Keep Writing!

Laura

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Thanksgiving Day is done and gone. Family and friends ate their fill, took whatever leftovers I could force upon them, and still managed to leave me with a refrigerator packed to the gills. And now, late at night while things are quiet, I find myself sitting here in a state of reflection.

Like many writers hoping to build a career around what they love, my life is divided between family, what folks refer to as a real job, and countless hours staring at a computer screen in a corner of my home. So every once in a while, I have to think about my choices.

Sure, if I weren’t writing, my house would be cleaner. Meals would be better planned, and the laundry would get done more often. I could spend more time hanging out with friends, and the checkbook might get balanced properly once in a while. And what about the other side of this? What about the personal ups and downs of writing?

Earlier this year I was offered the opportunity to submit The Enduring to a publisher attending Dragon Con. Needless to say, this filled me with oodles of glee, and I jumped into revisions the moment I arrived home. In addition, I re-wrote my synopsis to meet their requirements—a minimum of ten pages, and containing the complete emotional story arcs of every major character. Then off, via email, it went.

I wish I could say this story had a dramatic ending with someone offering me loads of money for a multi-book series, but alas, things didn’t work out that way. I did get a helpful, and very complimentary reply, and an offer to submit future works. And so it goes—a dose of excitement, one more disappointment, then a big twist of hope tacked on the end. Yet I wouldn’t have it any other way….